Gratitude: The Theory of Relativity (MP3 Download)

What do you need to be happy? A TV? A cellular phone? A microwave oven? Hairspray? Hot, running water? Refrigeration?

Mary Ellen Edmunds has lived in Third World countries. She has seen the sometimes desperate conditions in which people live there.

While observing their poverty, she has also taken note of their generosity and the gratitude they feel for the few things they own. Many seem utterly content with their simple lifestyle. In this humorous yet thought-provoking tape, Mary Ellen Edmunds explains how wealth is “relative.”

You may laugh when she points out the absurdity of our advertisements for things we think are essential — that is, until you start to blush.

Does she intend to make us feel guilty about the plenty we enjoy? No. But she would like us to reflect on our “riches” and see how being spiritually impoverished is an even greater disadvantage than not having shoes to wear.